Collapsible case



Nv.1o,19z5.v y I 1,560,630

f A. H, woLFE COLLAPSIBLE CASE Filed oct. 16, 1924 sheets-smet 1 Wit/sie w v @aw-Www Nov. 10, 1925- A. H. woALFE COLLAPSIBLE CASE Filed Oct. 16, 1924 Y Elie. E.,

2 Sheets-Sheet- 2 WMM/woo Patented Nov. 1o, 1925.

ARTHUR H. woLrE, or PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNon or olNnrIALr 'r DURWARD A. WO1-IEE; OF .GRAND RAPIDS., MIGHIGAN.-

ooLLArsIBLE CASE.

4Application mea october 1e, 1924. serial No. 744,011. i

To all 'whomc't may concern.' l

Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. WVOLFE, a

citizen of the` United States, residing at.

invent-ed certain new and useful Improve ments in Collapsible Cases',` andvl do declare the following to be aV full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such jas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same'.

My invention relates to improvements in foldable cases for containing numerous articles, such asy cigarettes, matches, playing cards, visiting cards, stamps,ran"d a myriadl of others, one ob] ect of the present invention being to provide an advantageous vvariation 'over the construction shown in my pending U. S. application, Serial No. 725,274, permitting the article container and thev sheath in which itis movably mounted to beinverted in the outside casing.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a construction in which the article container is moved out of the sheath, when said container and sheath arey inverted with respect totheoutsidecasing, giving easy access to the contents of said container."

A further object is to vprovide an outside casing of novel construction to permit any movable member which mayfloe mounted in it, to be moved to either of two relativ-ely inverted positions, thus adapting thecasing not onlyV for holding numerous forms of article containers, but possiloly'for holding complete articles, for instance, mirrors, brushes and numerous other'toilet articles.

Vith the foregoing in view, .the-.invention resides in the novel subject matter here-V inafter `described and claimed, the description being supplemented by theI accompanying drawing. f

is a perspective view of one Figure l Acompletely closed form of the case in its position. .a

Figure 2 is a perspective view partly in section showing the sheath and `the article ,container therein, swung upwardly preparen,

tory to inverting them.

Figure 3 is a, perspective view showing one form of theoutside casing. f- 1 Figure l is a perspective view showing one of the many article containers whichmay be mounted in the .sheath which is in. turn mounted slidably and pivotally inthe outside casing.

-Figure 5 sheath. f

Figure G is a longitudinal sectional view showing the sheath andthe article containerl inverted within the outside casing andthe container held in'an inclined position.

Figure 7 is a verticalpsectional:viewfon f ,i

line 7-7 of Fig. 2. v Figures 8 and 9 are? perspective views showing different constructions for the outside casing. A. j V

I will first describe the form of construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, which construction comprises brieflyyan outer substan- 1,560,630! ,PATENToFF1fcE.f-

is a perspective vview of the tially flat casing ll havingan open side, a v

sheath 2`normally confined within the'casingand also having at least one open side,

and` an 'article container 3 within the sheath capablel of outward movement through the open side thereof when said sheathand container are swung outwardlyA from `the outside casing as seen in' Fig. 2,- the construction being also such thatthe sheath and the article vcontainer may' bev entirely inverted and the former re-inserted 4in the outside casing;

The casing' 1, in the` construction underl consideration, comprises a flatbottomplate 4,' a front wall 5 rising,- therefrom, a back wall 6,'and a'pairfof opposed side vwalls 7. The bottom plate 4 and all of the walls 5, 6 and 7 are preferably formed from apskingle piece of sheet metal, such Vas (aluminum, and when the walls 7 arefstamped, they' are formed about twice as -wide as the front and back'walls 5 and-6, so thatsaid walls may have their-upper portionsbent inwardlyfand downwardly to provide-flat vertical flanges 8 at the inner sides ofthe sidewalls'proper, the latter being preferably bowed outwardly awayffrom the flanges as seen for instance in Figs. 2, 3 and 7.` The front and back walls 5 and 6 are also bypreference curved transversely as shown, so that a rounded formation is' provided at all edges of the casing, giving an attractive appearance and The 'flanges 8 are formed with longitudinal 'slots19 extend from end to end jthereof and constituting tracks Afor apurpo'se to appear,

entrance rthroats 10 being formed into the slots 9, the function of these throats beingl also described hereinafter.

rihe sheath 2 may be of any suitable form, but it is preferably of the general Ushape shown, beingV provided with two parallel flat side plates 11 and with a transversely curved front wall 12. This sheath is also preferably provided with a flat side wall 18 adjoined to theplates 11 and .vall12, said side wall 13 however having a large opening 14 for a purpose toV appear, while the side plates 11 are preferably formed with arcuate slots l5 whose function will also be set forth lat-er.

The article container 3 is received within Y the sheath 2 and it may be of any desired ,construction` As the construction herein dis.

closed is similar to that shown in myv U. S. application Ser. No. 725,274, such construction will not be specifically described. 1t may be stated however that this container has each of its end walls provided'with an opening 16 adjacent its lower end, the open ings being in alinement and adapted to register with openings 11 in the end plates 11 ofthe sheath. A 'rod 17 passes through the registerii'ig.openings 16 and 11 of the containerfwalls and freeends of the plates 11, and the ends of this rod project slightly beyond the side plates and are provided with any *appropriate flatvheads 18. v'illhepro- -jecti-ng portions of the rod 17 and the heads Y18 are downwardly insertible through the throats 10 of the casing 1, so that said por* tions-of the rod will bel received in the. slots or tracks 9 land will constitute shoes which may slide 'along said tracks from one end to the other thereof. The' wall 12 of the sheath 2 is provided with va knob` 19 having a shank 2O receivable in either of a pair of slots` 21 formed in the free edges of the front and back walls 5 and 6, according to the position of the sheath rand container in the outside casing. It will be seen that by pushing upwardly upon this knob, the sheath and container may swung 'upwardly out of the casing, the rod 17 then forming a pivot. When this pivotal action takes place, the rod is at one end or the Y other of the tracks 9, VVbut after such swinging has been accomplished, the rod may be slid entirely to v`the other end Vof the tracks, so that the sheath 2 and the article container '3 may be inverted in the outside cas ing 1.

y The article container 3 is provided with oppositely projecting lugs 22 which pass through the arcuate slots V15 of the sheath 2 and project slightly beyond the sidewalls 11A of said sheath. l/Vhen the sheath andv container 'are 'closed into the casing 1, these lugs are received in notches 22a in the side walls `7 of said casing, as 'shown in'Fig. 1, permitting the sheath 2 to fold completely into said casing and lie flush with the edges so that the sheath is received in said casing,

the lugs 22 .are receivable in notches 22b in the upper edges of the side walls 7, so that while the sheath is permitted to move entirely into the casing, the articlecontainer 3 is moved out ofsaid sheath and is held in the inclined positioirsliown in Fig. 6 so that its contents are readily accessi-ble. if it is desired to outwardly'swing the container from the shea-th when the parts are in substantially the position of Fig. 2, it will be seenthat the users fingers may be passed through theopening` 14 and pressedl against said container to swing it outwardly in the desired manner.

In Fig. 8, a casing structure is Ashown which differs from that previously described, in that only the intermediate l'ongiL tudinal portions of the side walls7a are transversely` bulged as indicated at 43. These walls are provided kwith downwardly projecting` flanges 8 and with slots 9a which .extend from end to end of'said flanges.

'A still further simplified casing structure is shown in Fig. 9, in which vthe opposed side walls7b of the casing are of o ne ply construction and are strictly flat, track forining slots 9b being formed throughsaid'walls one end thereof to the other.

Any desired invertible member or members may be used in the improved casing structureand wherever the sheath 2 is employed, it lwill be further understood that any desired yarticle or articles may be mountedvin this sheath. It will be further understood that the invention/is not restricted to any particular field of use and the details of construction may vary as occasion may demand. l

I claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising a casing having an open upper side, said casing l being provided with tracks throughout thellength of two of its opposed side walls, a sheath within the ycasing having an open side'normally disposed downlsaid casing being provided with tracks 'throughout the length of two of its opposed side walls, a sheath within the vcasing hav'- ing an open side normally disposed downwardly, said sheath having v shoes lengaging the aforesaid tracks and mounting the sheath` to strike parts of the casing and project said movable member from the open side of said sheath when the latter is inverted and reinserted into the casing.

Y 8. A device of the class described comprising a casing having an open upper side, said casing being provided With tracks throughout the length of tWo of its opposed side Walls, a sheath Within the casing having an open side normally disposed-down- Wardly, said sheath having shoes engaging the aforesaid tracks and mounting the sheath pivotally and slidably in the casing, so thaty it may be moved out of said casing, inverted and reinserted into the casing 1n an inverted condition, a movable member pivotally mounted in said sheath7 and a lateral proing beyond lone Wally of the sheath, said projection being adapted to strike a side Wall of the casing and project the movable mem# ber from the open side of the sheath, when vjectioncarried by said member and eXtendthelatter is invertedA and reinsertedinto the casing. n

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

` ARTHUR H. y`WOLFE- 

